Profound
AI search optimization platform helping brands manage their visibility across AI-powered search engines.
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- New York, NY
- Latest Round
- Series C
- Est. Valuation
- ~$1,000M
Investment Thesis
Profound is the first analytics and optimization platform built to help enterprise brands understand and enhance their presence in AI search environments like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. The platform processes over 100 million AI search queries monthly, supports customers in 18 countries, and counts enterprises like Target, Walmart, Ramp, MongoDB, U.S. Bank, and Figma among its 700+ clients.
Founded in 2024 by Dylan Babbs and James Cadwallader, Profound has grown at breakneck speed. The company raised a $3.5M seed in August 2024, a $20M Series A led by Kleiner Perkins in June 2025, a $35M Series B led by Sequoia in August 2025, and a $96M Series C led by Lightspeed in February 2026 at a $1B valuation — achieving unicorn status in just 18 months.
As AI-powered search (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) replaces traditional blue links, brands are losing visibility and traffic because they have no way to optimize for how AI systems select and cite sources.
Profound builds the analytics and optimization platform for AI search, giving brands visibility into how LLMs perceive their content and actionable strategies to improve their presence in AI-generated answers — essentially SEO rebuilt for the AI era.
AI search is already cannibalizing 25-40% of traditional search traffic for informational queries, and marketing leaders are scrambling for any tool that helps them understand and influence this new channel.
AI search adoption is inflecting faster than mobile search did, but the tooling ecosystem is nonexistent — brands are flying blind in the fastest-growing discovery channel in a generation.
Funding & Investors
Headcount Growth
Latest News
As AI threatens search, Profound raises $96 million to help brands stay visible
Fortune
AI search startup Profound raises $35M as Sequoia backs its bid to be the Salesforce of marketing's next era
Fortune
Move over SEO, Profound is helping brands with AI search optimization
TechCrunch